-- Series Overview ---------------------------------
The Gundam SEED Destiny 1/144 No Grade series followed up on the original SEED 1/144 line, with a total of 14 kits released between 2004 and 2005, priced between ¥300 and ¥600 as entry-level Gunpla. The basic layout is similar to the SEED 1/144 series, but you can feel a step up in terms of detail, and they've introduced an evolved dumbbell-shaped ball-joint polycap. Since both sides of each joint are articulated, the range of motion has improved — but with the elbows and knees still being fixed, the poses you can pull off are still pretty limited.
That said, the proportions are solid and on par with HG, and while color separation is limited, the molded colors look pretty decent. Each kit also recreates its own transformation gimmick or key feature. The parts count is more complex than the SEED 1/144 kits, pushing the average price up to ¥500, but the overall quality has gone up along with it. True to the No Grade label, these are great entry-level Gunpla for casual building on a budget or for painting practice.
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<Individual Kit Notes>
This kit is the 6th entry in the series — the 1/144 Gunner Zaku Warrior. It comes in a color scheme that almost looks like Char's custom colors, which gives it a pretty different feel compared to the HG Gunner Zaku Warrior that came out as Lunamaria's personal unit.
The base No Grade 1/144 Zaku Warrior body was already a really solid kit, so this one holds up well too. The Gunner's extension gimmick is also included — though it's not a sliding mechanism; instead you disassemble and reassemble the parts to extend it. The one downside is that without elbow joints, it's hard to get a natural angle when holding the weapon, but that's just the unavoidable limitation of a No Grade kit.
Anyway, the star of the SEED Destiny No Grade lineup is definitely the Zaku Warrior, and the Gunner Zaku Warrior is no exception — it's a fun little build that's well worth putting together. :-)
AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.
